Rockenbump's Destiny
This is my very first fanon for Toontown. I no longer play toontown, but this is how I pictured what a journey to the Cog Nation would be like. I probably thought about this around 3 years ago. I made several drafts, but I never published them. I have stopped working on Rockenbump's Destiny due to a shortage of time I have to spend on it, and that this has gotten very little comments, hinting me that no one's bothering to read my hard work. I'm sorry if you did like the story, but it's just simply too unpopular for me to continue. I still consider this a Work in Progress story, as I may continue on it depending on school and popularity. Prologue There was an old toon wandering around a grey and dull looking room. There were strange machines in the room, some boiled a green glop, some were putting together what appeared to be.... cogs? Why would a toon his age be in a cog creating factory? The toon constantly monitored the different machines. He stopped when a deafening screeching nose was heard, and the huge doors opened. The toon bowed. "Sir! I did not expect you to be here this late at night..." the toon said nervously. A sound like metal scraping against a chalkboard was akin to the mans voice. " Fool.... what were you '''doing here exactly? Let me guess, the same excuse as always... Making cogs?" The toon looked like he was about to pass out. "S-Sir, I swear it, I was only making improvements to the current mod-" The toon was cut short when he was smacked across the room and knocked unconscious onto the wall. He remembered nothing after that. Enter, Rockenbump! It was a lovely, sunny day at Toontown Central. Toon's were laughing and frolicking, while some of the Toon Council members walked around debating some useless thing as usual. However, one toon seemed to stick out. He was a blue cat, laying on the grass looking at the sky. This cats name was Rockenbump. He had a bored face, and he went for a toon task from his favorite clerk. "Hey there Larry!" said Rockenbump as he waved to an old fat mouse. "Oh hello, Rockenbump. Your here for a task I believe?" asked Larry MacDougal, grandfather of Babyface MacDougal. It was normal for Larry to be expecting Rockenbump, as Rockenbump is his main task receiver. "Everythings just not as fun as it used to be." said Rockenbump boredly. Ever since Flippy the Dog and Mickey Mouse told the toons that the cog nation never existed and they should stop looking, things were boring for Rockenbump. Larry looked troubled. "Rockenbump, just because Flippy and Mickey say it isn't real, doesn't mean it isn't. "Larry, are you actually doubting the Toon Council's decision?" said Rockenbump, astonished. Larry chuckled. "I've been around enough to earn the trust of the Council, I won't get in trouble for things like that. Now scurry along Rockenbump." Rockenbump nodded happily and took the toontask scroll. Some time later, after Rockenbump easily finished the task and was heading back to Larry, a slip of paper hit him in the face. It said "CN". "Ow.... CN? What could that stand for?" Rockenbump said while examining the paper. It appeared to be a memo slip. Whats odd, is that toons don't write memos... This truly perplexed Rockenbump, but he figured Larry will know. Rockenbump walked into Larrys shop, ready to know the answer. "Ah... this is an interesting slip indeed." said Larry. He felt it, and sniffed it a couple times. The mouse pulled out a pen, and scribbled on it. The ink didn't come out. "Why doesn't it write, Larry?" "Its because this was manufactured by Cogs. Its kind of a watermark thing, so toons can't ruin their paperwork. I have a hunch this came somewhere from Lawbot HQ, but I'm not sure what CN means yet." Larry put the slip into his short's pocket. "So Larry, do you think these memo slips have been appearing elsewhere?" questioned Rockenbump. Larry took a moment, then said "I wouldn't doubt it, perhaps you should go and search for other toons who may of seen them? Count this as a toontask, if you find more than three toons who have found this memo slip, you will be rewarded. Happy hunting, Rockenbump!" he said. Rockenbump joyfully left the building. Finally something exciting was happening! The search begins Due to The Brrrgh being where Lawbot HQ is , Rockenbump figured that would be a good place to look. He was asking several toons, and they just gave him a look like he was crazy, and they walked away. One orange dog noticed Rockenbump. He ran up to him. "Hey, I've been seeing those memo slips too, I was playing some golf and it flew into me." said the dog. "Hi, my names Rockenbump. I'm looking for other toons who have seen these too, it's been really odd as toons don't write memo's, and the cogs wouldn't let their precious paperwork escape the HQ." "Well, I'm Snappy Flickerswitch. I like glitching and invading Lawbot HQ." Rockenbump was glad he found this new friend. The two went into Daisy's Garden to find some more toons After some time of ridicule, embarrassment, and humiliation, they finally found a cat who thought they weren't crazy. "A memo slip? Yea,I've been seeing them flying in the air. I've been collecting them. I'm Rocky Crazystilts." said the purple cat. After returning to Larry, he seemed satisfied. "Ah, now I have enough proof of these memo slips to have an investigation put through." said Larry happily. "So.... does anyone have a taco or something? I'm starved!" exclaimed Snappy. Larry chuckled and fixxed everyone taco's and cake. The mission begins While happily feasting on goodies and treats, a knock was heard on the door. "Coming!" said Larry. When he opened it, he gasped. "Mickey! What are you doing here, it's an honor for you to be at my shop!" squeaked Larry happily. "Oh, I believe you now. I made a dear mistake saying it never existed." said Mickey. Larry looked shocked. "You mean..." "Yes, Larry. The Cog Nation is indeed real." Rockenbump and the others looked as surprised as Larry. "Well, I didn't just come here to give you all nightmares. Due to you all being close to becoming maxxed, you all seem likely canidates for this mission. Some of you might not return, perhaps none of you won't, but if you make it, you will be heroes. You must infiltrate the Cog Nation." Once more, everyone was surprised. "Whaaa? Are you serious!? We'd be sticking out like a sore thumb in the Cog Nation, look at us!" said Rocky Mickey thought a moment." Yes, I realized that. I have prepared several high level cog suits." Mickey pulled out 8 cog suits. " There are extra's incase you are caught and need to change." Everyone agreed on the mission, and decided to leave tomorrow morning. In the morning,the toon's met up in Toontown Central. Mickey was about to announce their departure. "Now, fellow toons of Toontown, you may or may not recognize these 4 soon-to-be heroes, but today they will be leaving to go find the Cog Nation. I assure you not to worry, these toons are very capable and high laffed. Larry MacDougal, the leader of this task force, I think you should leave." said Mickey, loud and clear. Toons were flooding the little playground, and Larry shook hands with all of them. "Now, I believe we should start off by going over ToonTown Summit, which is near the golf course." instructed Larry. The toons followed him toward the fence. "Uh, Larry, this is just a fence." said Snappy. "Yea, you don't expect us to jump over it, do you?" questioned Rockenbump. Rocky just stood there with a puzzled look on his face. Larry chuckled. "Of course I want you to jump over!" Rocky scratched his head. "But... It's never been tried before." Larry stepped other the fence with ease." Thats because everyones been scared. Don't be a scaredy cat, come on." The other toons knew they had no choice but to follow Larry. When their feet hit the ground, over the fence, it felt softer and like no one's stepped on it before. As they were going to set off toward ToonTown Summit, another toon jumped over the fence after them. "Hey! Hey!" said the red duck. "I want to come!" Larry knodded reluctantly." I'm not sure how Mickey will react, but I guess you could come. Name please?" "Im Sam Handwich. I like cooking and fixing stuff." said Sam. Everyone looked satisfied with the ducks talents, and headed onwards. Hours passed and passed, and they finally got to a flat ledge on the mountainside. "Rocky and Sam will be in charge of making dinner, its getting late. Snappy and Rockenbump will be setting the tent up. I will be looking around, who knows what's out here." commanded Larry. After an hour or so, everything was arranged, and the toons began to eat. "Mmph, dese tmacphos are dfphecious!" said Snappy. "Snappy, stop talking with food in your mouth, it's impossible to hear what you said." laughed Rockenbump. After a good nights sleep, they set off once more. The toons kept walking, and soon the mountain became hard to climb due to the steepness increasing. Rockenbump pulled out some suction cups. "Guy's, put these on your feet, theyll make it easier to walk up the steep part of the mountain." said Rockenbump, while attaching them to his feet. Everyone did the same, and it was much easier. As time went on, they finally got to the actually summit. What they saw below them was astonishing. The new world It was a playground. A whole playground, apparently larger than a regular playground. Larry rubbed his head. "I think were at Rockville, its a large playground that was rumoured to have been shutdown and moved from our Toontown. It's existed longer than most of our playgrounds." said Larry with interest. Sam looked at the architecture. "Wow! I couldn't imagine fixing these buildings." Rockenbump looked at the strange candies, they were bananas. "Well guys, I believe we should keep moving, we could ask for supplies here." said Larry. He and the others began trekking carefully down the mountain side. Another dog looked at the newcomers. "Whoa, did you come from the other side of the mountain?" said the dog. "Well yes." said Larry. "I'm Larry, and this is Rockenbump, Rocky, Sam,and Snappy. We are going to find the Cog Nation to find an explanation to this strange memo slips." Larry said, while holding up a slip. The dog looked confused. "You toons are crazy, I don't even know what a cog is!" The dog ran away. The toons looked puzzled. "Doesn't know what a cog is? How in the world of toons is that possible?" said Snappy. "Well, I guess we should be looking for a Cabella's outlet here." said Rockenbump. The toons took some of the banana candies to refill their laff from the difficult trip up the mountain, and then they saw a Cabella's sign, pointing below a small store. Rocky groaned. "Ugh... this place is tiny! How can it hold the Cabella's standard amount of items?" Rocky was soon corrected when he walked in. It was huge, boxes stacked everywhere, items all over the place, clothes folded neatly on tables, and an unlikely person was sitting behind an ornate glass counter. "Hello, may I help you with anything?" said Cabella herself. "Cabella? I thought you lived in ToonTown?" said Larry. "I do. I just pop into this store every day to help out my workers. Oh and, Larry, why are you bringing Rockenbump,Rocky, Sam, and Snappy out here?" said Cabella. "Well, I guess you remember all your callers. But anyway, Mickey gave us a mission to find the Cog Nation, and take it down. We would like some supplies." Cabella smiled. "Anything you like for free, just because your all going on an important mission." Due to toons being able to fit a large amount of things in their pockets, they stuffed anything that would help them in their pant pockets, from food, to an extra change of gloves, to gags. Cabella gave them a map. Rockenbump and Larry examined it. "Well, I think we should head into the forest, that would be a reasonable spot to go, where there's no civilization." said Rockenbump. Larry nodded in agreement. "I believe that's the only logical route to take. We have enough supplies to last us for a while." Sam looked at a sign and it read "This way to Peter Banana's palace." "I'm guessing this Peter Banana owns the playground. Its best we don't tell him we came here, he probably won't like it." said Snappy. "Lets go guys!" said Rocky, he was already running into the forest. Some time passed as the toons continued to walk. They kept their laff healthy by eating a banana candy every couple toonmiles. Soon it was nightfall, and Larry set up camp. As the toons were joyfully eating, a mole popped out of the ground. Snappy screamed. "It's a cog mole!" "Calm down Snappy, it's only a regular mole." said Rockenbump. The mole stuck out it's tongue, and what appeared to be a camera popped from its eyes, clicked, and the mole disappeared. "No! It'll send a picture to the Cog Nation that were coming!" yelled Larry. Rockenbump took out fire hose and sprayed it in the the hole where the mole came from. A short circuiting sound was heard, and and then a bang. "Good thinking Rockenbump. We should all go to sleep now, I want us to be at are top energy tomorrow, this is a big forest" said Larry. Treacherous Travels The toons continued walking. The forest seemed endless. They walked for toonmiles and toonmiles. Finally, they hit a mountain. But this mountain was rocky, high, too steep,and too wide to climb over, and walk around. "No... This can't be right. I'm sure we took the right way..." groaned Rockenbump. "Don't worry Rockenbump, I'm sure theres a way past it. We've been in the forest for a few days, it'd be nice to look around this mountain" said Larry. Rockenbump sighed and went with Rocky to look for a possible route, while Larry, Snappy, and Sam went another way. The group decided to regroup after a hour of looking. "Well toons, did you find anything interesting?" said Larry. "I found a hole in the ground from a mole the took a picture of me. I couldn't catch it in time. I'm really sorry." said Snappy. Larry grunted. "It's alright. I'm sure we'll get to the Cog Nation before it does. Did you see anything Rockenbump?" Rockenbump had a smile. "I actually did. I found a hole that leads into an underground cave. I don't know how safe it is, but we could use it. "I found what was left of a cog. I guess it got stuck when a rock fell on it." said Rocky. "I didn't find anything interesting." said Sam, dissapointed. The toons decided to go into the underground path that night. All was good, it was a little cold and damp, but the cave was surprisingly smooth and not alot of turns. That worried Larry. "I'm not being paranoid, it's just that caves aren't this straight or smooth. Its as if it was dug with tools, not naturally." "Don't worry Larry, I'm sure it's a coincidence" said Sam After some walking, they got to a ravine. "Alright, it's wide enough for us to jump. I'll go first" said Rockenbump, with energy in his voice. Rockenbump took a step back, leaped, and made it. The other toons followed in quick succession. Everyone walked down a hallway to a dead end. "What the..." said Larry. "I'm sure we took the right tu-" Larry was cut off when the floor opened beneath them. The toons fell and fell, and everyone was knocked unconscious Rockenbump was the first to awaken. The room had no doors, the floor was tiled with what appeared to be granite, and it was shivering cold. "Ouch... Im only at 1 laff point, yikes." He ate a candy, and the others slowly started awakening. "Well, this was unexpected." grumbled Larry. Rocky was looking frantic. "How can you act so calm! There's not even a door!" he screamed. As Snappy was stumbling around, still dizzy, he tripped on an elevated floor tile. An eye scanner popped out of the wall, and a robotic womans voice was heard. "Hello. Welcome to Cogbase Alpha 014. Please scan your Identification Card in 20 seconds or you will be disposed of by our personnel." A timer popped out near the eye scanner thing, and it counted down from 20. Larry looked horrified. "Put on your cog suits everyone!" Rockenbump had an idea, he scanned a tag on his cog suits jacket. "Hello Unknown Cog, ID 103810392. Please exit the waiting room." said the voice. A wall opened up, and the toons in their suits walked out. There was a bleak and melancholy hallway, with a light hanging from the ceiling. Larry read the directions map. "It appears were in a cog rest station. I guess for when they travel to ToonTown." They followed the signs down to the airport, trying not to talk to the cogs they passed by. As they got to the ticket booth, they looked at the different signs. "I think we should go to Sparxtown. It's in the outer parts of the Cog Nation. It'd be a nice place to start at." Larry turned to the Name Dropper in the ticket booth. "How much for tickets to Sparxtown?" The Name Dropper spoke in a regular cog voice. "6000 cogbucks for each ticket." Larry pulled out his only cogbucks supply he brung. "Here, this'll be enough." said Larry sadly. "Okay, your airplane is leaving in half an hour." She pointed to a sign with an arrow. It said "Flight 932." The toons boarded their flight nervously. This was all their first flights. When the plane begun taking off, Snappy was hugging a pillow. "Snappy, stop it. They'll think your malfunctioned, it's only a couple hours." A flight attendant walked over to their seats. "Hello, would any of you like some oil changes, or some extra grease? Or perhaps if you've been installed with our new processing chips that allow to turn food into battery power?" Larry looked at the menu she gave him. "Uh yes, we'll take the turkey...I think it's called?" The attendant looked weirdly at them. "Okay, turkey it is, I'll be back in a few minutes with your meal." Rockenbump looked out his window at the vast desert they were in. "Wow... I never knew something could be this big." Rockenbump jumped when someone tapped him behind his seat. "New cogs going to Cog Nation? If so, you'll see things a lot bigger." The Downsizer turned back around. As the toons tried not to act toony, the attendant came with their turkey. It looked like sliced brown meat on bread with bread on top. "Your turkey sandwiches, sirs. Is there any refreshment's you would like?" Larry shook his head, and the attendant walked away. The toons carefully bit into their sandwichs, and it was filled with flavor. "Wow! This turkey stuff- I mean, this turkey is good." Rockenbump corrected when 2 Two-Faces looked strangely at him. Larry couldn't help but smile with the delicious food. They have been living off of candies from Rocksville and cupcakes for the past couple days. "Please buckle up your restraints, we will be landing in Spraxtown in a few minutes." said a speaker near their seat. Larry told them to be calm, as it would only be a little bump when the landed. Rocky nearly bashed the window out when they landed, and Sam almost got them caught by a Penny Pincher by screaming. Enemy's land As they got out into Sparxtown, they read the sign. '''Welcome to SPARXTOWN. POPULATION:21,323,242 "I guess we should find a place to eat at in the morning, it's already pitch black out." Larry said. As the group were walking down the street, they saw a relativly small house compared to the towering office buildings and 4 story high mansions. A memo slip was on the door. Name Dropper Level 7, ID 0629319, Name, Michelle, Reason of absense: Out for a dinner party, won't be back until late tomorrow morning. Rockenbump had an idea face on. "We could crash here, this cog will be out all night." Rocky lockpicked the door with a staple they took from their "Welcome to Sparxtown" pamplet, and they went in. There was a flatscreen television, with a radio, a fridge in the kitchen, along with extra cog suits, edible food, and all they needed. Rockenbump lounged on the couch, Rocky was on the reclining chair, Larry was in the upstairs bedroom with Snappy, and Sam was in the guest room. Slowly but gladly, everyone dosed off. Rockenbump....Turn back....You will perish....Turn back.... Rockenbump woke up with a start. Who was that voice in his head? He checked the clock, it was 9:00 AM. He wanted to curl back up and go to bed, until he realized the cog would be back soon. "Everyone wake up! The cog will be back soon, we gotta go!" yelled Rockenbump. Larry and the others stumbled out of bed and got their cog suits on in a hurry. Snappy used his glitching skills to get inside and turn on the cogs spare car. They had to leave Sparxville before the cogs caught on to them. The toons had to go to the capital. As Rockenbump was handing out breakfast burrito's in the car, they were pulled over by a police car. A strange looking cog wearing a blue uniform questioned Larry,who was driving. "ID Number 8910323, your number does not match with this car. Please step out and I will not have to use for-" The policebot was stopped when Rockenbump bashed a cream pie in his face, and they zoomed off. They hastily made it to the Sparxtown airport, and used their last cogbuck's Rocky stole from the cog's house. "Please... tickets to New Cog City..." Larry said, exhausted. The Penny Pincher in the ticket booth looked grumpy. "6000 cogbucks per ticket. Also, I suggest recharging your battery, it seems quite low." When the group finally got into their plane, they just wanted to take a nap in their seats after almost being caught. Rockenbump thought about how far they've gotten, after only a night in the Cog Nation, they were almost caught. "I think when we get to New Cog City, we should buy new suits. That policecog took a picture of us probably." said Rockenbump. Snappy looked a little embarrassed. "I thought you were crazy at first Rockenbump, since you figured we should go in a dark cave, or into a huge forest, but who knew you'd be right." Larry patted Rockenbumps back. "I've gotta admit, you did get us here in one piece, and you destroyed that policecog. But lets shush it with the toony stuff, we'll get looked at." Everyone ate their lunch,and the flight seemed to go on for hours. "Hello fellow cogs, please look out to your left, as we will be approaching New Cog City." Rockenbump turned to his window, and it was horrifying. The cog skyscrapers were hundreds of stories high, even higher than the planes altitude. The city spreaded all over the desert it was in, and it was plain massive. When the airplane landed, and the toons got out for fresh air, the skyscrapers looked even taller from down below, with their eyes staring at everyone. The air tasted dull and the toons could already feel their laff dropping. Rockenbump looked around as the wind blew in his hair. "I guess we should rent an apartment. It's not like we can break into someones house with all these cogs around." As Rockenbump was looking for somewhere to stay with Snappy, Snappy saw a sign saying "Mr. Chips Apartment Complex." "We could stay here I guess." said Larry when the others regroupped in the lobby of the apartment complex. Larry walked up to the Glad Hander behind the counter. "How much for a regular apartment?" The Glad Hander looked bored from working here all day, even though hes a Glad Hander. "30000 Cogbucks a night." Larry paid the first two nights in advanced with his last pile of Cogbucks Mickey gave him. Everyone got into an elevator and looked at their room card. "Wow, 108th floor." said Sam in amazement. The elevator got there quickly, and when the toons got into their apartment,it had a couch, a TV, 2 beds, and a fridge with food in it. That night, Rockenbump had another voice in his head, except he saw who it was. It was a very tall man, Rockenbump couldn't tell what type of cog it was. His voice sounded like metal scraping against a chalkboard. Turn back... You do not belong here.... Scum... Turn back. Rockenbump awoke. It was morning. It was bitterly cold, and he heard the sound of a pen. Larry was already up, filling out a job application. "Larry, what are you doing?" "I have to get a job, Rockenbump, it's the only way I'll be able to pay off rent." "I'll help by getting one too, you can't just overwork yourself." said Rockenbump. Snappy walked into the room with Rocky and Sam. "We'll help too." they said in unison. Larry smiled. "You guy's are great. I was looking in the newspaper for open jobs, and I found a good one at Mark Affidavit's District Attorney offices. I'd have to start off as a Bottomfeeder filling out lawpapers, but you get alot of Cogbucks per hour, so thats good." Larry gave everyone a copy of the job part of the paper. Rockenbump filled out an application for a Bossbot job at a popular office building. Note, when you see the black blocks, that means some time has passed. Thank you for reading. * * After looking around for his new workspace, Rockenbump realized he was alone. Sam and Snappy went to work at a bank, Larry is at a DA office, and Rocky was working at a seperate office building. There, Rockenbump saw it. It was a massive tower, hundreds and hundreds of floors. Life as a cog When Rockenbump walked in, he was greeted by an over-enthusiastic Yesman. "Hello, hello! Welcome to Memo Inc, the largest office complex in Cogs Inc. Do you have a meeting with an offical? Or any questions? Or..." Rockenbump was flooded with questions by the Yesman. "Uh, I just have a job application." The Yesman looked sad now. "Oh, I see. Thats a bummer. Well, I'll see that..." He read it over. "Okay, you will be in Mr. Chromes' department. Take the 2nd elevator to your right in that hallway, and ride it to the 623th floor. Walk down the hallway toward the office at the end, and give Mr .Chromes your job application." The Yesman stamped "APPROVED" on the job application, and sent Rockenbump off. I think this is the right elevator, thought Rockenbump as he pressed the up buttom. The elevator went strikingly fast, he seemed to sink in. He was on the 623th floor in around a minute. Rockenbump followed the Yesman's directions, and knocked on Mr. Chromes' office. "Come in!" yelled a deep voice. Rockenbump walked in to see a Headhunter sitting in a desk. "Uh, I have a job application." said Rockenbump, very nervous. "Alrighty, it appear's it's approved already. Hmm.... Mmk, your first job will be to put stamps on these files and bring them to the mail room. The mail rooms left from the elevators. Your cubicle is number 42. Now leave." As Rockenbump sat in his cubicle, he realized he was a Flunky now. He stared at the stamp. How do you do this, he thought. Rockenbump saw a peel on the back, and when he ripped it off, it felt sticky. "Ooh, your supposed to stick them on." said Rockenbump said to himself. He stamped all the files in around half an hour. He was doing good. When Rockenbump went into Mr. Chromes' office, Mr. Chromes was talking to a Downsizer. "One minute, Roger. Yes, Jeff?" Jeff Cable was Rockenbumps cog name. "I finished stamping the papers, and brung them to the mail room." said Rockenbump proudly. "Impressive speed, I'm glad your productive with your work. Your next task will to paper clip this pile of papers. Put a paper clip on every 10 papers, and put them in your collection bin behind your phone. After that, your free for a 30 minute cooling break at the water cooler." said Mr. Chromes. Rockenbump hid a slight smile, he was doing great for his first day, already getting a compliment from his boss. As Rockenbump started paper clipping his papers, he wondered how the others were doing. Hopefully at his water cooler break he'll be able to phone one of his friends at work. * * Rockenbump finally finished after an hour and a half. He didn't expect it to take long, but the pile was bigger than he thought. At the water cooler, Rockenbump used the public phone to call Larry. "Hello? Larry Circuit of Mark Affidavit's DA Offices?" "Larry, it's me." "Oh, sorry about the over-formal greeting, I'm making phone calls to other DA offices, I have to answer every phone call like that." said Larry, slightly embarrassed. "It's fine, what time do you get out of work? I'm at my water break, I get out in around 3 hours." said Rockenbump. He heard Larry groan. "I'm being forced to work overtime by my boss, I won't be back til midnight. You don't have to stay up for me." "Wow, you better be being paid good for that long." "I am, I better go, I have 20 calls on hold. Bye!" Larry hung up. Rockenbump took a sip of water, and walked back to his cubicle where he found a note. "Jeff, I'm going to send you home an hour earlier due to how good your productivity is. You may leave in 2 hours. Keep up the good work, sincerely, Mr. Chromes. P.S. I left you a stack of sheets that need to be signed and sent to the mail room. That should take you 2 hours or so. If your done with it early, you may leave." Rockenbump couldn't believe his luck on how his boss has taken a liking to him. Maybe he'll get a pay raise so he could buy the group a fancy dinner later on, or buy everyone cleaner cog suits. Rockenbump picked up a pen and began signing "Memo Inc." on a paper. * * After Rockenbump finished signing the last paper, it was time for him to leave! He took a drink at the water cooler and took the elevator down to the lobby. The sped over to him. "Hello,hello Jeff! I heard Mr. Chromes complimented you. I hope you keep up the good work, Mr. Chromes doesn't compliment people unless he's impressed." said the Yesman. "Uh, thanks." said Rockenbump as he hastily got down to the bus stop and went back to the apartment room. He was the first one there. The toon sprawled against the couch and after about 10 mintues, Sam and Snappy walked in exhausted, but smiling. Sam held up a paycheck. "Oh yeah! 10,000 Cogbucks! I caught the boss when he slid on a wet spot, and he gave me an extra 5000 Cogbucks." said Sam. "Yep, I saw it, you should of seen the look on that Money Bags' face when Sam got the 5000 Cogbucks on the spot." laughed Snappy. "So when are the others coming back?" questioned Sam. Rockenbump had a sad look on his face. "I don't know about Rocky, but Larry's being forced to work overtime, he'll be back at midnight." Snappy yawned and pulled out some cheese and crackers from the fridge. "I dunno about you guys, but I need a snack." said Snappy while chewing on a cracker. * * It was midnight, and Larry walked in assuming everyone was asleep. But actually, everyone was watching the news. "Larry! How was work?" said Rocky, who came back about 3 hours before. "Well, it was long, but it wasn't terrible. I got paid 15,000 for my hard work. So what's on the news?" Rockenbump looked troubled. "The police cog was repaired, and he made a report on us. But luckily, they still think were somewhere in Sparxtown. Due to us flying so many toonmiles from Sparxtown, they probably won't catch on were here." he explained. Larry sat down next to Sam. "I was appalled, frankly. Toons in my house? Outrageous! How could the police let these toons even close to the Cog Nation?" said the Name Dropper, the one whom's house the toons broke into for the night. "I assure you Michelle. These toons won't get far out of Sparxtown." said the head policecog. Rockenbump turned the television off. "I'm going to bed." said Rockenbump, slightly aggrivated on how they were reported. * * Rockenbump had the same dream, except he could clearly see the cogs face. It was blank of any expression, and unlike the other cogs, his face looked pure evil. It appears he has seen this cog before, but Rockenbump couldn't remember. Rockenbump woke up just in time for breakfast. While on the busride to work, he was watching a TV on the wall. "The toon's still have yet to be found, and we have been moving out of Sparxtown and into nearby cities." said the reporter. Rockenbump was about to lay back when the bus stopped abruptly at his workplace. "Another day at work?" said the Short Change next to him. "Uh, yea. Where do you work at?" questioned Rockenbump. "At the financial center, theres a branch in the back of the building for finnancial problems." The Short Change and Rockenbump parted ways when Rockenbump took the elevator to his floor. He happened to meet Mr. Chromes, who was talking to his friend at the water cooler. "Oh, hello Jeff. Today your on phone duty, here's a stack of business cards with other offices on them. Here's the papers with what you will say. Off you go." Rockenbump dialed numbers after numbers. Most calls were about financial issues or supplies. After 3 hours of talking to cogs on the phone, the only thing keeping Rockenbump from going sad was looking at his gloves, which kept him happy to remember Toontown. Mr. Chromes walked by and looked at Rockenbump's finished work. "Ah, once more you have finished at an impressive speed. I'd like you to meet my assistant manager who will be in charge while I'm out for a business meeting." A Micromanager walked over to Rockenbump,barely shorter than him. "Hello, I am Diane. While your boss is out, I won't be as nice as he is. Go refill the water cooler, and staple these 3 stacks of paper." * * After an incredibly hard day of being ordered around like a doodle, Rockenbump got a phone call at the apartment. "Rockenbump, pick up the phone!" yelled Larry, who was cooking with Rocky. "Hello, this is an automated message sent by Allen Chromes. If you have gotten this call, you have been invited to a mandatory meeting of Memo Inc's best employees. Please arrive in the meeting complex on floor 425 of Memo Inc. by 10:45 AM in your best condition. Oiling and greasing are suggested so you look your best." As Rockenbump put the phone down in shock, Rocky tapped him on the shoulder. "What did he say?" "I was invited to a meeting for the best workers at my office building, and it's only my second day!" said Rockenbump in horror. "Well that's good, isn't it?" said Snappy? "I don't know... I'm gonna go to bed early so I'm not late." When Rockenbump was walking into the elevator, he had a thought of Mr. Chromes blowing off his cog suit, and sending all of his workers to destroy Rockenbump. He shivered at the thought. "Name." said a policecog in front of the door. "I'm Jeff Cable, I was invited." The cog checked his list. "Okay. You may enter." The door opened into a big room with a large meeting table filled with lower leveled cogs. Mr. Chromes' tapped into a microphone as Rockenbump sat down. "You have all be invited to a prestigious promotion meeting. That means you have amazed me beyond recognition, and I am having you promoted. Congratulations. My boss, Mr. Lan, who is also the administrative officer of Memo Inc, will now speak." "The CEO himself could not make it here to give you direct promotions, however, he has sent notes of those who will be promoted, and those who will continue being lowly Flunkies or Pencil Pushers." said The Big Cheese. He said name after name, but Rockenbump wasn't on there. "Oh, I forgot one last name, my bad. Jeff Cable." Rockenbump knew he had to sound thankful, like the others. "Thanks Mr. Lan." Mr. Lan nodded politely and walked out of room. "The cogs who were promoted today may go home, those who didn't, continue working." As Rockenbump got into the elevator with Mr. Chromes and another Pencil Pusher, he had to feel worried about the others. Rockenbump didn't want to have them hurt, he didn't think that the Cog Nation would be so massive. "Jeff?" "Yes Mr. Chromes?" "I see potential in you, maybe you'll be as successful as I was when I first was a flunky here. I was promoted on my 2nd day, I often got pay raises, I would get employee of the month, and I was eventually made the manager of the business segment of Memo Inc. when I became a headhunter. Normally when your that high of a level, you can retire from work and live life as a high leveled and important cog. I chose to live as a manager, not getting any more promotions." "Okay sir, I'll try." said Rockenbump nervously. "Jeff, I also feel... something weird about you. It just feels kind of weird. Maybe your suit is dirty, or you didn't have an oil change. Oh well, here's my stop." The cog got off on another floor,and Rockenbump left to the bus stop. "Still no sign of the toons. Not even a hint tells us where they are, and we suspect they could of left to go back to ToonTown. The Chief Justice himself called off the investigation, saying they would of scurried back to their hidey holes in ToonTown." said the TV in the bus. Rockenbump couldn't help but think how Mr. Chromes could feel his tooniness. The toons have nothing on them that shows their toons. But then he thought, the gloves! The gloves emit a little bit of happiness, and its still enough to be sensed by high leveled cogs. Back at the apartment, Larry was worried with Rockenbumps discovery. "We may have no choice but to get rid of our gloves." said Larry with a grim expression. "But our gloves are the only things keeping us happy in this place!" said Rocky. "We could buy gloves from a store, they won't feel the same, but they'll still keep our laff up." said Rockenbump. "Good idea, I think it'll work." the old mouse said happily. The toons had to save their money for rent, and they were out of food. Now they were relying on throw gags. Snappy swallowed a cupcake. "Well, I guess we should head down to town square tomorrow to buy new suits and gloves." As Rocky was about to share his idea, a knock was heard of the door. Rockenbump reluctantly opened it up. It appeared to be a Mover & Shaker in a mailman's suite. "Invitation for... Jeff Cable." "Uh, thats me?" said Rockenbump hesitantly. "Huh, it seems pretty offical and fancy for a Pencil Pusher. Are you sure your Jeff Cable?" Rockenbump sneered. "You look pretty dumb in that mailmans outfit." The cog scowled and gave Rockenbump the envelope and walked away. As Rockenbump examined the fancy golden envelope. It had 3 gears side by side on the top. "Larry, I don't think this is good news, it seems too fancy for a meeting invite." As Larry read the paper inside, he was shocked. "It's an invite to some cog's house. It appears he's noticed out hard work and would like to eat dinner with us." I''' will add more sometime later. Post suggestions in the comments.'''